A hat or twelve.

We've had some "technical difficulties" here at Sewtastically Made.  My computer sounds like it's grinding coffee.  Yes, that's bad.  Apparently it's a little thing called a hard drive.  And it's crashing.  So that means I've got to figure out a way to quickly get ALL my important information (i.e. pictures, homeschool files, itunes...yes, I know I need a "cloud".)  on to an external hard drive.  I'm scared.  I'm a giant, technologically un-gifted, scaredy cat.  (I'm just going have to put on my BGP's - big girl panties - and do it though.)  Thankfully, my wonderful daddy took the time to fix my "old computer" for me to have as a back up. 

Now for the crafty talk...

I've been knitting like a crazy person.  Or maybe just knitting like a knitter.  I swear I even dream knitting.  In the shower the other day, rinsing my hair, I saw knitted stitches on the backs of my eyelids.  Am I going insane?  Don't answer that.

I've been working on lots of small projects.  Hats mostly.  One for me.



I apologize for all the ipod photos.  It was raining to boot!

One for my oldest.

Lord he's cute.

Even one for a tiny peg person.

I love the unintentional braided look.

I started another one for a sweet, soon to be born, daughter of a dear friend.  (I can't wait to see it on her tiny head!)

Apparently it's the week of the hat.  In the wings I have lined up one for my cousin's brand new baby and even one for my husband.  Hats all around!  (And don't worry about my daughter, she received one of the first ones I made.)  

Oh, and I finally found a sweet little yarn shop with super friendly (and very helpful) staff and "yarn snob" yarn.  I'm excited to try upgraded (but NOT insanely expensive) yarn. 

I also discovered the joys of a knitting, homeschooling mom.  I think that's how I accomplished so much with knitting this week!  It's the perfect thing to sit quietly and work on while my son works on a particular problem.  Along those lines, I've currently been reading homeschool math lessons and not much else. 

Yarning along with Ginny and the gang at Small Things today.

 

 

 

 

 

A String and Two Sticks

So I'm a knitter.  I am.  I crocheted for years but I haven't once since I picked up the needles.  I started back in January and the progress felt pretty slow for a while.  I seem to be getting faster and (maybe) even better now.  I had done some basic dishrag patterns but nothing super complicated.  Well, enter Wee Folk Art and their beautiful Spicer's Scarf.  It's by far the most complicated pattern I've ever done.  Lots of K2, YO, K1, YO, K5 SL1K, K2T, PSSO, etc.  And I CAN READ THAT!  Crazytown.

We went camping this past weekend and I had quite a bit of time for this...

 

and this....

and this...

It was so relaxing.  Maybe I'm still in the "honeymoon phase" with knitting but I'm always amazed at what can come from a string and two sticks.

This will look even better once I block it!

I'm yarning along with Ginny at Small Things today.  I'm reading Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett and I've also started Pompeii by Robert Harris.  Both on my nook.

 

 

Good Knight Part 2: The Tunic

 

Remember when I showed you these arm bracers I made for a Knight's costume?  Well, I finished up the tunic a few days before the Knight and Princess party and thought you might like an update. 

  

The finished tunic.

 

A super quick rundown here.  I found an image the boy liked and set to work on the design.  I used Wee Folk Arts tip for cutting felt and it worked beautifully! 

 

It took forever to cut out but it was so worth it.

I then used spray adhesive to tack it down to the black part of the design.  After the glue dried (maybe 1 hour) I stitched around the Griffin with a running stitch.  Then I cut out a rectangle of fleece that was folded at the top.  You want your fleece to comfortably fit the length of your child front and back.

I cut an oval out of the folded edge for the neck and hemmed the neck opening.  Make sure it fits over your childs head before hemming.  I also hemmed the sides and added eyelets and lacing.  (honestly I'd have preferred black lacing here but Michael's only had brown that day.  Oh and use interfacing where you want the eyelets.)  The next step was to cut up the very center of the front and the back about 6 inches.  Hem that along with the bottom and add any decorative trim you'd like.  That's it!

This was pretty inexpensive to do honestly.  I already had the felt and eyelets on hand so I only had to purchase the fleece (about half a yard will leave you with plenty of extras), the lacing, and the red trim.  Less than $10 total.  If you have any questions about the directions please let me know.

An action shot at the party!  They had so much fun.  I'll try and show you more detail with the helmet and sword in another post (the helmet is my favorite part of the whole thing!).  I'll give you a hint though, the helmet is made from craft foam and the sword is a pizza box and some duct tape. 

 

The fair knight jousting!

 

Good times.